The best natural and cruelty free skincare – India Edition

India is the country that brought Ayurveda to the world. The centuries old Indian system of medicine provides super effective solutions for all your pitta, vata and kapha problems.

However, when it comes to skincare, super natural = preservative free = can last up to 30 days only if refrigerated. If you’re into that, check out Waterline – skincare so pure you can eat it (seriously).

For those who lack refrigerator space or prefer to store their skincare stash in their bedrooms/bathrooms – Kama Ayurveda and Forest Essentials give you all the Ayurvedic luxury minus the high maintenance. (On a side note, both of their hair care lines are top notch and I personally vouch for Kama Ayurveda’s Bringadi Intensive Hair Treatment Oil.)

Ayca is another all-natural Ayurvedic brand which brings more of a modern twist to Ayurveda by incorporating new-age aromatherapy to their products. Their Jasmine and Rose Body Oil is light on the skin and olfactory system. Perfect.

Moving on from Ayurveda to their Korean counterpart – Innisfree. (Note: Innisfree isn’t doesn’t have any ancient Korean medicine roots.) With stores around the country, they are definitely the biggest Korean skincare company in India — and I love them. The Innisfree Green Tea Seed Serum is a best seller in its own right — use it as an essence and apply right after toner before serum.

Yes, this article is about skincare but a little organic, cruelty-free makeup never hurt anyone. Ruby’s Organics lipsticks and blushes are DA BOMB — super high quality at an unbeatable price point. Must buy.

The case for organic body oil

Lately, I’ve been paying more attention to the labels on my beauty products and less attention to the brand name. Mainly, I’m leaning towards organic and natural products. India has really great natural beauty brands like Khadi, Forest Essentials and Kama Ayurveda, to name a few. I’ve used numerous products from all these brands ranging from face creams to body lotion but none of their body oils have really struck a chord with me. Khadi’s body oils are too thick and don’t really absorb into my skin post shower. Forest Essentials and Kama Ayurveda body oils are less thick but heavily perfumed which can be a tad overwhelming for my olfactory system.

I live in Mumbai so it’s almost always too humid to apply body oil during the day. Which means that I usually give my skin a good scrub-down and a self body oil massage post shower and right before bed. The perfect body oil will be light enough to fully absorb into moist skin and heavy enough to leave my skin moisturised. Also, it can’t be too perfumed because a strong fragrance wakes me instead of helping me relax before hitting the bed.

After trying all the well-known natural beauty brands in India, I found Ayca’s Jasmine & Rose Body Oil and it was love at first application.

The oil absorbs perfectly, my skin feels moisturised the next morning and the scent is light and refreshing.